For years, Cal Poly’s soil judging team has turned an ecological marvel into a competition and has found much success.
Cal Poly’s soil judging team finished fifth place at the 2025 National Collegiate Soils contest, their second-best national ranking this decade.
The team has been a mainstay in nationals, placing in the top 10 for four consecutive years, according to the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences website.
This season the team came in second in regionals while earning first place in group judging and individuals placing in the top ten, which has granted them a ticket to the national competition in Wisconsin.
The team operates in groups of four, as individuals or as a whole team. This is done to counteract variance with the teams being of different sizes, Cal Poly’s being a team of nine.
The competition involves matching a scorecard of the soil correctly in an hour. The scorecard is based on how the soil is formed and its physical and site characteristics, involving around 10 properties.
The components involve the color, form, structure, the amount of water it holds and the site characteristics such as what landform they are on or what plains they are on.
The team is coached by Gordon Rees, who has been coaching the team for the past nine years after a perfect storm of events.
“When I interviewed for my position, there was some talk that I would help out with soil judging,” Rees said. “The person who was coaching the team ended up finding a job somewhere else once I started, so it just sort of fell into my lap.”
The team received a sixth-place individual finish from Sarah Hoffman and a 12th-place individual finish from Nabila Wildman, who are both soil and environmental science seniors.
Hoffman, who placed the highest among the individuals, was not even sure if she would be picked for the competition.
“I was definitely surprised and excited of course,” Hoffman said. “During the first soil pit, I have no idea what is going on here, the second one was mediocre, but the last one, I told myself I crushed that.”
Not only was Hoffman surprised at the selection, but her placement also left her shocked.
“I was feeling somewhat confident, but being around so many people who are so stoked about soil, I was definitely surprised,” Hoffman said. “I did not think I was in the top ten at all.”
The team appears to have found success in large part due to the reputation that Cal Poly has built in regards to their soil science program, attracting students who are very passionate about the soil.
“In California, we are very well known for our soil science program,” Wildman said. “Even nationally, I would say we are very extensively known”.
The team operates from fall to spring, and preparation begins long before nationals begin.
“We study the site beforehand and practice describing soils around SLO,” Nabila Wildman said. “We practice filling out the scorecards, which is typically done in winter when we are not going out to the sites.”
Rees says that the bulk of preparation comes when they are on site for the competition rather than back in SLO for the class’s duration.
“Most of the real preparation for the contest happens in the first four days of the contest,” Rees said. “They show us 16 different soil pits described by the local professionals and the students practice.”
The soil judging team is meant to build a community and have fun but is also meant to test the knowledge and grow the skills of the individuals out there.
“The other teams are more focused on competing than we are,” Hoffman said. “We definitely want to do well, but it’s less about winning and more about seeing something new, having fun and learning a lot.”
While the team could go under the radar, there are students within the Natural Resources and Environmental Science department who are aware of the team’s success.
“I heard about the team a couple of years ago,” environmental protection senior Harper Johnson said. “I find it interesting that you can judge soil. I honestly don’t know how you can do that.”
Johnson thinks the team is only at the top of mind to those in the NRES department rather than the student body as a whole.
“I think that it’s such a niche topic that it’s specific to the natural resource department,” Johnson said. “Outside of it, I think people have never heard of it.”
Rees, who got into soil when he was in college, loves the importance of soil’s role in life.
“It is something that is all around us and functioning in all kinds of ways that most of us are totally oblivious to,” Rees said. “It is sort of like this hidden world that is right there that I never knew anything about.”
Rees wants us to realize that soil is more than just dirt beneath our feet but a more unique aspect of our ecosystem.
“One of the things I emphasize is how diverse it is, you look at your soil and walk 100 feet, it can be totally different,” Reese said. “People tend to think soil is soil, where sometimes it’s red and sometimes it’s brown, but in reality, it is very diverse.”
Wildman got into soil after taking AP environmental science in high school, and joined the soil judging team last year and finds it interesting based on the story it tells.
“We are learning the story of how soil forms, it contains stories of thousands and thousands of years ago,” Wildman said. “I’ve seen charcoal in soil profiles that are from indigenous culture burnings, it is history in a way.”
Hoffman joined the team after some finding joy in soil morphology and also getting some encouragement from a classmate.
“I took soil morphology, which is where you learn how to describe soils,” Hoffman said. “I talked to Nabila and they encouraged me to join.”
Hoffman enjoys many different forms of science all of which can find itself present when studying the inner workings of soil.
“I love the interdisciplinary aspect of it,” Hoffman said. “It integrates chemistry, physics, biology, geology, hydrology just all these sciences that I find interesting all pooled into topic.”
Wildman gives some encouragement to go appreciate soil for what it does when it comes to sustaining our livelihood.
“I think it is beautiful and worthy of study and attention,” Wildman said. “It stores carbon, it helps cycle nutrients, it allows us to store water, it’s what is always under our feet.”
Wildman has one quote about soil that sums up the study.
“We are all temporarily not soil.”